Beauty Escapes

1995

Programme notes

‘Beauty Escapes’ was part of the ‘All Lit Up’ song cycle (1994-5) that I originally performed with two percussionists, Wim Konink and Marcel Andriessen along with Robert Poss (from Band of Susans) doing electronics.

Lyrics

beauty escapes in the pursuit of safety
grab your jacket, let’s take a drive
love’s a mighty thing but what’s it done for me lately?
let’s head into the valley, up ninety-five

282 ft. below sea level
how low can you go before you disappear?
the nights are bitter cold, the days will blister the devil
how deep the sun burns you when no water is near

no water is near
no water is near
we’ll live forever

every neon sign is young at heart, young at heart
every traffic light controls our gaze
every roadway sign shakes us from our horizo ntal daze

beauty escapes in the pursuit of kindness
while I’m sick over nothing, while I’m stalling for time
I wanna drive into the desert ‘til noone can find us
‘til the radio turns to static,‘til the road runs out of lines

two hundred and eighty-some feet below sea level
the mountains grow jagged and the nights are clear
your heart is bitter cold but its been worth all the trouble
how deep the sun burns you when no water is near

no water is near
no water is near
we’ll live forever
no water is near

no water is near
no water is near
we’ll lie together